To My Home Team

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

    Once a dreamer, always a dreamer. Being a senior, I have found myself caught in between the known and the unknown. This year has brought me feelings of great joy, sorrow, and confusion. I am relishing in the freedom to make my won choices, but also embracing my lack of responsibility that will soon vanish. With the year rapidly coming to a close, I have found myself reflecting on the lessons learned and anticipating the lessons to come.  If you would have asked me 2, 5, or even 10 years ago, there is no way I could have predicted where I would be in this moment.

    Every year, our church recognizes the graduating class in front of the congregation. I remember these days fondly. As a child, I remember my eyes getting big and my mind racing, and how cool I felt being in the same room as a teenager. As I got older, these days made me wonder what they would say when it was my turn. Would I be off to some crazy town up north? Would I head west to California just for the adventure? Or would I be saying "Roll Tide" with even more passion than I had before? I remember these moments and laugh, because nothing has turned out the way that I planned.

    My big dreams of heading north faded quickly, for reasons unbeknownst to me, and I never really became talented enough to make it in L.A, so that's that. My college dreams weren't lost yet, though. My heart became set on the University of Alabama: one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes upon. I thought I had found my new home.

   Long story short, something was telling me that Tuscaloosa was not it. Something was making me question, and in the end I decided that for now, I needed to be here. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my doubts were not true, and maybe I will look back and wonder why. Maybe me changing my mind was foolish, maybe I'm reading all the signs incorrectly. Maybe, two years from now, this wont be home anymore. But maybe, just maybe, this is it.

    A lot of maybes, I know. But if I know one thing, it is this: we are all on the same team. We are all called to fulfill our purpose whether here or there, and we are being sent out to build the kingdom of God. I am thankful for a "team" who has been by my side since day one. A team who has celebrated with me in my ups and prayed with me and over me in my downs. And until I am led elsewhere, I will be joyful in the hope of fulfilling my purpose in the best way I know how. I will be patient in my suffering and I will always, always be faithful in my prayers for peace, growth, and clarity. What a blessing this journey has been, and what a blessing it will be. If nothing else, I feel privileged because each and every morning I wake up with so much joy in my heart because I know that I get just a little bit longer with my "home team."  

Even as I am typing this, I stand amazed at the depth and uniqueness of our story's. I am in awe of the bravery and tenacity of our spirits and the spontaneity of our hearts. But most of all, I stand in humble adoration for the peace and promise that we have all been given in the story of Jesus Christ. Once a dreamer, always a dreamer. But once a follower, always a follower.